DVD Review: Little Fockers

Rated PG13 for innuendo, brief violence, some language

Starring Ben Stiller, Teri Polo, Robert DeNiro, Barbara Streisand, Dustin Hoffman, Jessica Alba, Owen Wilson, Blythe Danner

5 years have passed, story-wise, since we last had an encounter with Greg Focker. Not only is Greg a loving husband to his wife Pam, but he is also a doting dad to their almost 5 year old twins Samantha and Henry and he is the head nurse at the Children's Memorial Hospital in Chicago.

After learning that Dr. Bob - the husband of Pam's sister Debbie - has been having an ongoing affair for quite some time, Greg's father-in-law Jack says that in the event of his passing, it is now Greg's duty to carry the family through hard times, referring to him as "The God-Focker."

In an effort to impress Jack, Greg attempts to send his kids to the elite Early Human School, however it is quite expensive and in order to help cover the expense, Greg gives in to a pretty, peppy young pharmaceutical rep named Andi and agrees to help promote a new erectile dysfunction drug for older men with a heart condition. However, he is a bit embarrassed by the product and the more he keeps hush about it, along with him spending quite a bit of time with Andi, the ex-CIA agent in Jack get suspicious and begins thinking that Greg is cheating on Pam.

Everything boils down the week of the twin's 5th birthday party, which Greg's eccentric and free-spirited parents are also in town for.

Little Fockers is filled with much of the same humor as the previous installment of this series, Meet the Fockers. Honestly though, while there where some laughs and it did have it's moments (not to mention the kids are pretty cute too!), this film wasn't really necessary. See it if you liked the rest of the franchise, otherwise feel free to skip it - you're not missing much.

DVD Review: Salt

Rated PG13 for brief language, action, violence, brief torture, brief nudity

Starring Angelina Jolie, Liev Schreiber

Evelyn Salt is a CIA agent, first accused of being an American spy by the North Koreans and later accused of being a Russian spy by her fellow Americans after a strange Russian man is brought in for interrogation and requests to speak to Salt, claiming he knows who she is and that it is her who is to assassinate the vice president.

It's hard to review this one without giving too much away, as there were quite a bit of twists in the film. The Russian claims Salt was trained by the Russians as a child shortly after her parents died in a car accident to be a Russian sleeper agent, blending in and working her way up in America to be in position when the time comes for their ultimate plan to be carried out.

Of course Salt claims to know none of this, but does she really? And will she really carry out her supposed role in their plan?

Throughout most of the movie we are left guessing where Salt's loyalties really lie - with the Russians or with the Americans?

It's definitely an interesting flick to watch though, full of lots of action and suspense. Worth a rental.

Fast Five

Rated PG13 for action, violence, some sexuality, brief language

Starring Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Jordana Brewster, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, Tyrese Gibson, Ludacris

Picking up exactly where the 4th installment left off, Dom is sentence for his crimes and being bussed off to prison when his sister Mia and her boyfriend  - the former FBI agent and fellow street racer Brian O'Connor - speed up alongside the bus, tipping it over and busting just Dom out. Now fugitives, the trio flees to Rio in hopes of waiting things out until the whole mess blows over.

Desperate for funds, Mia and Brian meet up with Vince (from the 1st movie) and agree to a quick and easy job he's found out about which includes jacking 3 cars off a train. Dom gets involved as well, however the plan doesn't go as planned as it turns out the guys that set up the job have ulterior motives. After Dom sends Mia off in the car the others had the most interest in, all hell breaks out and several DEA officers on the train get shot and killed in the process.

Curious as to why they were so interested in that one particular car, Dom and Brian strip it down and discover a microchip that contains all the safehouses for Rio's main druglord.

Not only do they have the local druglord's henchmen after them, but now, because of the dead DEA officers, they also have tough as nails US DSS agent Luke Hobbs hot on their trail, wanting to recapture our trio.

Tired and wanting to live a normal life (not to mention Mia is pregnant with Brian's child), with the help of friends from all the previous installments, they decide to rob the druglord and go into hiding in a country where they can't be extradited.

Not only do we have the car chases with flashy cars we've come to expect from this series, but now there's the "impossible heist" element (reminiscent of Ocean's 11 or The Italian Job) added to it as well.

Gotta admit, this franchise works much better with Vin Diesel in it than it did without him in the 2nd installment (and technically the 3rd, although in the timeline that one takes place at the end of the series). Having The Rock hot on his tail also adds to the fun and it's a battle of brawn when the 2 have a bit of a hand to hand showdown.

If you liked the original The Fast and the Furious as well as the series' 4th installment Fast and Furious, you'll definitely enjoy Fast Five as it's much of the same fun adrenaline rush we've come to expect from these films.

DVD Review: Old Dogs

Rated PG

Starring Robin Williams, John Travolta, Seth Green, Rita Wilson, Kelly Preston

Dan and Charlie have been best friends forever and are co-owners of a successful sports marketing firm, living the high life. In the midst to closing the biggest deal of their lives, Dan's ex-wife Vicki (whom he married on a whim 7 years prior while on vacation, their nuptials not even lasting 24 hours) shows up, desperately needing someone to watch her 2 kids while she spends 2 weeks in jail for activist shenanigans. Dan quickly realizes, the children are his - the result of their brief nuptials 7 years ago.

Reluctant at first, Dan evenutally agrees, wanting to get to know the kids a bit (not to mention he never got over Vicki either). However as Dan struggles with figuring out fatherhood, him and Charlie continue to attempt to close their business deal.

In the end, they learn what's important in life (and it's not living the high life) and grow as people as well.

Much like Travolta's previous Disney family flick Wild Hogs, Old Dogs is geared towards the same audience catering more towards adults although kids will enjoy the youngsters meddling in their father's (and "Uncle Charlie's") life. It's definitely a feel good movie.

Thor

Rated PG13 for superhero action violence

Starring Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, Stellan Skarsgard, Kat Dennings, Anthony Hopkins, Tom Hiddleston, Idris Elba, Jaimie Alexander

While researching some strange disturbances in the weather in New Mexico, Jane Foster, assistant Darcy and her mentor Erik come across a distraught and confused strong man in the middle of the desert.

Turns out, that strongman is Thor - son of Odin and heir to the throne of Asgard. However, Thor wasn't quite coronated as king yet. During his coronation ceremony Frost Giants break into the vault of the palace in hopes of retrieving the source of their power - the casket of ancient winters. Quick to react, Thor wants revenge and justice for the Frost Giants coming there and breaking the peace between Asgard and Jotunheim. Knowing how to press his buttons, Loki talks Thor into attacking the Frost Giants himself despite Odin's warning to leave them be. Taking Loki and his friends, Thor and crew travel the Rainbow Bridge and inadvertently start a war. Upset at his failure to heed his words, Odin banishes Thor from Asgard and exiles him on Earth. He also makes it so that Thor cannot use his infamous hammer until he is worthy of it.

Lost and confused and wanting to go home, Jane eventually gives in and helps Thor, giving him a lift to the site of where his hammer is rumored to be.

However, with Thor gone and Odin suffering a heart attack, Loki is left in charge of Asgard, much to the dismay of Thor's friends, and is running a muck, refusing to undo Thor's exile. Taking matters into their own hands, Thor's friends venture to Earth in search of him, however Loki sends a Destroyer to put an end to his brother once and for all.

Will Thor be able to regain his strength and obtain his hammer in time to save Earth and the Frost Giants and put a stop to Loki's evil plans?

As the first big superhero film of this summer, Thor was an excellent fun family thrill ride. Despite being based on Norse mythology, the film plays it off without shoving it so much in your face. Basically, the "gods" are just really strong with an advanced form of technology - only when they came to Earth were they deemed "gods" at the time.

Be sure to take the whole family to this fun flick this summer!

DVD Review: The Social Network

Rated PG13 for some language, some sexuality

Starring Jesse Eisenberg, Andrew Garfield, Justin Timberlake, Rashida Jones, Armie Hammer

After being dumped by his unofficial girlfriend, Harvard student Mark Zuckerberg has a night of binge drinking and posts on his Livejournal throughout the night as he creates a Hot or Not type website database of most of the girls at school, getting their pictures by hacking through the school's network. By 3am, his site has gone live and the link is out. Thousands of students flock to the site to check it out and rate their fellow co-eds. The site gets so much traffic so quickly that the network crashes.

It's eventually traced back to Zuckerberg and after hearing what he did, he is soon approached by the Winklevoss twins to create a Harvard social network site so the students can connect and hook-up, sort of like a dating site. Seeing the potential of a social networking site for college students, Zuckerberg puts the Winklevoss project on hold and starts his own social networking site - The Facebook.

This film primarily shows the early haydays of the Facebook social networking site and the first of several lawsuits Zuckerberg has had to dealt with since the site was created. In this film, the main case is the Winklevoss's claiming Facebook was their idea while Zuckerberg claims that their site was more of a dating/hook-up site whereas Facebook is something different.

It was interesting to see the evolution of the now very popular site (which is no longer just for college students - anyone with a valid email address can be on Facebook). It was also interesting to see the part that Napster founder Sean Parker played in Facebook.

One thing to note though, while the film at first glace seems to be autobiographical, it is anything but. Several sources have coming saying that the real Mark Zuckerberg is nothing like the character that portrays him in the film.

If you like docu-dramas be sure to check this one out as it was definitely worth seeing. Also, the movie's score by Trent Rezner and Atticus Ross was excellent as well!

DVD Review: The Other Guys

Rated PG13 for action violence, slapstick violence, brief language, some sexuality

Starring Will Ferrell, Mark Whalberg, Eva Mendes, Michael Keaton, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, Samuel L. Jackson

In every police force there are guys like detective Chris Dansen and PK Highsmith - the cool guys who chase after the bad guys much like the crime-fighting duos you see in all the action movies. And then there are the other guys like Allen Gamble and Terry Hoitz, the pencil pusher who sit at the desks and do all the research.

After a freak accident where Dansen and Highsmith are killed, all the guys in the office are looking to become the next action crime-fighting duo. That is, all the guys except for Gamble who is quite content working a safe deskjob, much to the dismay of his partner Hoitz. Hoitz longs for being in on the action but ever since accidentally shooting Derek Jeter (he thought he was a trespasser) he hasn't been given much of a chance to redeem himself.

Gamble begins an investigation into a scaffolding permit violation though which as it would be turns out to lead to something much much bigger than him and Hoitz could ever imagine. And clearly they're on the right trail as someone with power and henchmen don't want them snooping around.

Will the other guys prevail and get their moment of glory out from behind the desk?

While it's supposed to be a comedy, the laughs were few and far between. Sure it had it's moments, but it went a little over the top when Will Ferrell's Gamble shares his backstory.

Definitely a forgettable film and not worth the time to watch.

DVD Review: Dinner for Schmucks

Rated PG13 for crude humor, language, sexuality

Starring Paul Rudd, Steve Carell

Tim is a financial consultant who hopes to be promoted among the executives after a spot opens up at his firm. After impressing his bosses and potentially landing a huge client, they are quick to consider him for the job however they say he must attend a "special" dinner. He soon learns that at this dinner, the execs bring the craziest, wackiest idiot they can find and whoever brings the best one wins!

At first Tim is turned off to the idea of making a fool out of some poor schmuck and his live-in girlfriend reminds him how wrong it is and tells him not to do it. But after running into Barry - the perfect schmuck to bring to the dinner - Tim can't resist the chance at a promotion and so he invites Barry to the dinner. Inadvertently he invites Barry into his life as well, popping up at all the wrong moments and making Barry's situation with his girlfriend and his potential new clients only worse! Basically, Barry is a walking disaster.

Will Tim ultimately decide to attend the dinner, with Barry in tow? Or will he do the noble thing and tell Barry the truth, saving him from humiliation?

Honestly, with funny men Paul Rudd and Steve Carell starring together, this movie wasn't as funny as it could have been. It had potential alright, and some laughs, but it just seemed a bit mean-spirited and in the end it didn't deliver.

Feel free to skip this dinner!

DVD Review: Easy A

Rated PG13 for sexuality, brief language, teenage drinking

Starring Emma Stone, Amanda Bynes, Thomas Hayden Church

What started as an innocent fib to get a best friend to shut up became the rumor heard 'round the school.

Not wanting to join her best friend Rhi and her kooky family on a weekend camping trip, Olive lies and says she has a date with college guy. On Monday, Rhi begs her for details, insisting that Olive must have slept with this college beau when in fact Olive spent all weekend at home, rocking out to the song "Pocket Full of Sunshine." Tired of Rhi pestering her, Olive gives in and tells her she slept with the guy, unbeknownst that one of the school's gossips is in the bathroom with them and overhears everything. Quickly the word spreads that Olive is sleeping around.

Having never been on the social map at school, Olive admits to initially liking all the attention she was getting from both the girls (who called her a slut) and the guys (who suddenly had an interest in her).

She learns that one of her best guy pals is gay, but hates being made fun of for it by the other kids at school. After Olive gives him the advice to just make up something up and spread around, like what happened with her, he suggests they go to a party together and fake have sex, that way Olive's reputation lives on and people will think he's straight. She decides to go along with it, however after that encounter, all the "loser" guys at school catch on to the trick and start offering Olive giftcards to various places in exchange for her to agree that she did something sexual with them.

Eventually it spirals out of control, and she decides she no longer likes having the slutty reputation, as it seems no guys in school actually have respect for her or want to date her - they just want to say they did things with her. Needless to say, Olive learns a very important lesson about how big one little lie can get and the importance of a reputation!

With the witty dialogue and just the right amount of sexuality, this film is almost like a 2010 version of Mean Girls as both have the same type of humor and clever dialogue, with the story being told by the main character and how they met their downfall and how they redeemed themselves.

If you liked Mean Girls, or even just funny teenage come-of-age flicks (with John Hughes references to boot!) be sure to check out Easy A! It's probably better than what you're expecting!

DVD Review: The Proposal

Rated PG13 for some language, some sexuality, obscure nudity

Starring Sandra Bullock, Ryan Reynolds, Betty White, Craig T. Nelson, Mary Steenburgen

Margaret Tate is a very successful editor in chief of a book publishing company in New York, however when she learns from her board that her legal visa has expired (she's from Canada) and she will be deported she quickly and foolishly tells them that her and her assistant Andrew are engaged and will be married soon. Andrew, while fully aware that his boss is a demanding witch of a woman, plays along as she promises him she'll run his articles if he plays along long enough. With a long weekend coming up, Andrew has already made plans to go home and visit his family in Alaska, and in order to fool their co-workers, Margaret must tag along.

What she didn't plan on was meeting a family who genuine cares and accepts each other regardless. We learn she never really had much of a family life growing up, which is why she's so cold of a person. She quickly begins to fall in love with Andrew's family and begins to realize it's not fair to drag him into a marriage of convience.

But what will Andrew's family think once the truth comes out? Will Margaret eventually be deported? Or will Andrew still play along with her scheme?

If you like romantic comedies, be sure not to miss this one as the performances by the cast were all quite fun!

DVD Review: The Runaways

Rated R for language, sexuality, drug and alcohol use

Starring Kristen Stewart, Dakota Fanning, Michael Shannon, Scout Taylor-Compton

It's the 1970s and a late teenage Joan Jett is a rockin' female guitarist wanting to be in a band. 15 year old Cherie Currie is into the glam rock of David Bowie.

After a chance meeting a teenage hangout, music producer Kim Fowley likes Joan's idea of an all girl rock group and puts her in touch with drummer Sandy West, telling them to put something together. Liking what he hears, Fowley decides to audition a bombshells for a singer and spies Cherie in one of the teen hangouts. Despite her hesitation to sing suggestive lyrics, she gives in to Fowley's demand and lands the gig.

The girls head out on the road for a tour that summer, with Cherie quickly losing her good girl looks and innocence on the road. It's a time the girls - Cherice, Joan, Sandy and Lita Ford will never forget and for some of them a launching pad to even bigger careers.

While this film is based somewhat on the autobiography put out by Currie, it is to be noted that a good bit of the film is fiction, as they cut out certain parts of the band's history and condensed the timeline as well. It was definitely an interesting film to watch, despite it not entirely being an accurate documentary.

Also, even though it is Fanning's movie (and boy does she play jailbait well!) with Stewart backing her as Joan Jett, I do wish they gave a little more screentime to Scout Taylor-Compton's Lita Ford, as she went on to have a bit of a well-known career as well. Lita and Sandy were just background characters, having very little dialogue or screentime in the film.

If you like autobiographical films (regardless of accuracy) or The Runaways, Joan Jett and/or Cherie Currie you might be interested in checking out The Runaways, however put the kiddies to bed first as there's quite a bit of sexual content in this one!

DVD Review: Saw VII - The Final Chapter

Rated R for graphic violence, torture, language

Starring Tobin Bell, Costas Mandylor, Betsy Russell, Sean Patrick Flannery, Cary Elwes

Leaving off where the the previous film ended, Hoffman is still alive and furious with Jigsaw's widow Jill for setting him in the reverse-beartrap headpiece and leaving him to die (only he managed to escape by mutilating his face instead), he spends most of the film chasing after Jill and trying to get to her for revenge despite her being in police custody.

Meanwhile, another Jigsaw game is being played, this time with a self-help guru named Bobby Dagen who has made his living off pretending to be a Jigsaw survivor and traveling all over speaking about how he overcame his fears and fought for his survival. While his story is inspiring, none of it is true - him and a few friends, who are now his PR publicist and manager, came up with the idea after hearing a Jigsaw survivor share their story on the local news. In his game he has to overcome several traps in order to save his friends and eventually his wife as well as himself - the final test being the so-called trap he claimed to have survived previously (which was made to his claimed specifications).

Will Bobby be able to really survive Jigsaw's game? Will Hoffman get to Jill before he is ultimately stopped?

Despite this being the supposed last chapter of the Saw franchise, the ending was pretty lame, as it wasn't completely resolved and felt open ended in case they ever wanted to revisit the franchise. They did keep to their word though - as it was originally stated there would be 7 Saw films in the series. Just many like myself wish we were given more closure for sticking it out and enduring all 7 of them!

If you've seen all the Saw films up to this point you might want to check it out just to say you saw the whole series and see how they finally ended things. If you never got into the series or gave up watching several movies, feel free to skip this one!

The Mechanic

Rated R for language, violence, action, some sexuality

Starring Jason Statham, Ben Foster, Donald Sutherland

When someone needs "a job" done just right, they hire "a mechanic." And Arthur Bishop is one of the best mechanics around.

After finishing a job, Bishop goes home and learns that his next contract is to kill his mentor, Harry McKenna. After confirming that the hit is in fact correct, Bishop learns that McKenna was part of an operation where all the men involved in carrying it out were killed and that only 2 people - McKenna and his partner (who put the hit out on him) knew about the mission and the details. Bishop sadly follows through with the contract, making McKenna's death look like a carjacking.

At the funeral, Bishop meets McKenna's wayward 20-something son Steve. After witnessing Steve take his anger of his father's death out on a random carjacker, Bishop decides to take the kid under his wing (kinda like a younger brother, as McKenna was more of a father figure to him) and teach him how to be a mechanic as well.

The question though, is how well will Steve take Bishop's training? And will he ever find out that it was in fact Bishop who killed his father and not some random carjacker?

While I never saw the original 1972 film, I've heard that the plot is similar but the missions are different.

Either way, this film is standard Jason Statham fare, with Ben Foster pulling his weight and joining in on the ass-kicking fun! It's got everything you would expect - guns, action, explosions, things breaking, etc.

While a bit predictable, it was still a fun action flick worth seeing if you like Statham films!

DVD Review: Sex and the City 2

Rated R for language, nudity, sexuality

Starring Sarah Jessica Parker, Kim Cattrall, Kristin Davis, Cynthia Nixon, Chris Noth, John Corbett, Evan Handler, David Eigenberg

The girls are back and at it again!

In this next chapter of the Sex and the City franchise Samantha is dealing with menopause and her keeping her libido, Miranda has recently quit her job at the firm after being disrespected for being a woman one too many times, Charlotte is struggling with jealously over her daughters' nanny fearing her husband may be having an affair with the nanny and that her girls might like their nanny better than their mommy, and Carrie is having marriage blues as Big never seems to want to go out to social events any more and would rather always stay in.

Each needing a break, when Samantha scores an all inclusive trip to Abu Dahbi thanks to a new business connection, she invites the girls along. Charlotte and Miranda bond over their struggles and frustrations of being mothers; Samantha has a hard time being modest and almost gets in big, big trouble jeopardizing them all; Carrie runs into an also married Aiden and has trouble resisting temptation!

Whatever will they do? One thing's for sure, they each have each other to count on!

While this movie was fun and didn't seem as long as it actually was, it was also unnecessary. Sure it's nice to see a "where are they now" type movie, but we had that with the first one and another one 2 years later was just too soon and didn't need to happen. One is enough, two is overdoing it.

If you love the series you'll probably enjoy watching this one, however if you were never into the show just an average fan you can definitely do without!

DVD Review: Machete

Rated R for graphic violence, language, nudity, intense action, sexuality

Starring Danny Trejo, Jessica Alba, Michelle Rodriguez, Lindsay Lohan, Jeff Fahey, Cheech Marin, Steven Segal, Don Johnson

On a mission to save a kidnapped girl, Mexican Federale Machete runs into complications when he crosses a corrupt chief and a drug lord who in turn kill his wife and child and leave him for dead.

Three years later, Machete shows up in Texas as an illegal immigrant looking for work. Desperate for cash, Machete accepts an offer of $150,000 cash to assassinate a senator who plans on sending illegals out of the country, no exceptions made. He doesn't get to carry through though as one of the man's henchmen shoots him and frames him for an attempt on the senator as a way to gain support for the senator's illegals campaign. Injured, Machete is taken in by an underground Mexican hospital network who quickly fix him up and send him on his way.

He's determined to set out and get his revenge on those that set him up as well as the senator himself no matter how bloody or violent the task gets!

Originally a faux trailer for the middle of 2006's Robert Rodriguez's & Quentin Tarentino's Grindhouse double feature, the response was so good that Rodriguez knew he had to make it into a feature film.

If you like over the top action B-movies, and don't mind some bloody, graphic violence don't miss Machete! It has lots of action, and some quite hilarious B-movie moments! Danny Trejo doesn't disappointment in this role that he was made to play!

DVD Review: Shrek Forever After

Rated PG

Starring Mike Meyers, Cameron Diaz, Eddie Murphy, Antonio Banderas, Walt Dohm

The Final Chapter, or so they say. In this 4th installment of the Shrek series Shrek, now both a father and a husband to 3 ogre babies finds himself tired of the same old day to day routine - his life isn't nearly as exciting as it once was. People are no longer afraid of ogres either. Just for one day would Shrek like things to go back to how they once were.

As it is, Rumpelstiltskin has a bone to pick with Shrek - it just so happens that as Fiona's parents were about to sign away their kingdom to Rumpel in exchange to undo Fiona's ogre curse, they received word that Shrek had rescued Fiona from her tower and called the whole deal off. Upon overhearing Shrek's frustration, Rumpel offers Shrek to have his day, the only catch is Rumple gets to choose what day Shrek is to lose.

He just so happens to choose the day Shrek was born, thus altering the franchise's timeline, putting things into an alternate universe where Rumpel is in charge and ogres are an outlawed rebel force, led by Fiona (who is now a Xena-type warrior chick) who take shelter in the woods, hiding from Rumpel's witchy guards. The only way to set things right and get out of his contract is for Shrek to get Fiona to fall in love with him again, however that is not an easy task as she's much too busy planning an upcoming attack on Rumpel's palace. Oh and he only has 1 day to do it too otherwise he is to fade from existence!

This one did have it's funny moments and elements, with Rumpelstiltskin and his witchy crew adding some fresh laughs, however unlike many critics and reviews, this installment was not as good as the original. While the story was more of a cautionary tale of "be careful what you wish for" and "you don't know how good you have it until it's gone" a 4th installment in this series really wasn't needed. Worth a rental if you're a fan of the franchise, otherwise skip it!

DVD Review: Babies

Rated PG

This documentary by French filmmaker Thomas Balmes follows 4 young babies from 4 different cultures as they grow from birth through their first year. With little dialogue and no subtitles, we witness as the 4 youngsters experience their first year of life, reaching important milestones and discover the world around them.

Ponijao is from a tribe in Opuwo, Namibia Africa. We see him spend his days nursing with mom and eventually playing with a slightly older sibling outside and in the dirt.

Bayar is from Mongolia and like Ponijao, he too has a slightly older sibling whom he has a bit of a rivalry with. His parents seem to be farmers as Bayar often comes in contact with the livestock.

Mari is from Tokyo and she spends her days being immersed in the Japanese culture as we see her in daycare when she is only a few months old. She also has a bit of a frustration when playing with some of her toys later on.

Hattie is from San Fransisco and like Mari, she is immersed in the local culture as well by joining her parents in family-friendly yoga classes. She also seems to be in a pretty sterile world, compared to Ponijao and Bayer who are often getting dirty outside.

This 80 minute documentary was cute and interesting as the viewer learns and sees how various cultures around the world can shape the people that live there at such a young age and affect who they are. It was also cute during the end credits to see each of the 4 babies several years later (around the age of 3 it seemed).

Think National Geographic but with a focus on babies and this is what you get!

Should note though, while it isn't portrayed as explicit or wrong, there is some nudity, as we see mothers freely breastfeed their babies in front of the camera and at times Ponijao and Bayer aren't wearing pants or diapers, revealing themselves as well (at one point, Ponijao curiously lifts up the front of his brother's loincloth before "discovering" that he too has a penis).

DVD Review: Predators

Rated R for language, strong violence, some gore

Starring Adrian Brody, Topher Grace, Alice Braga with appearances by Danny Trejo and Laurence Fishbourne

8 individuals - a former Black-Ops turned mercenary, an Israeli sniper and CIA Black-Ops assassin, a Spetsnaz, a Yakuza, a death row inmate, a Sierra Leone fighter, a drug cartel enforcer, and a doctor - come to consciousness while being parachuted into a strange, foreign jungle. They begin to wonder what they have been selected for, however none are exactly sure how a doctor fits in with the rest of the trained fighters.

As they wander around in the jungle, trying to figure where in the world they are, they come to realize that they are no longer on Earth but on some strange planet. They also come to the realization that they are being hunted by something much larger than human!

Stumbling across an alien camp, with one alien being tied to a pole, they run into Noland - a US Army solider who has been on the planet for many "seasons" and has learned how to survive the hunt. He shares with the new group that the planet serves as a game preserve and that every season humans and other alien creations are dropped onto the planet to be hunted by 3 bigger alien (Predator) creatures. Whenever one of the 3 is killed by the "game," the next season they come back stronger and more evolved, as if they are learning.

They also learn that there is a ship nearby that can get them off the planet, assuming they can get one of the smaller Predators to control it as the bigger Predators and the smaller ones have quite the blood feud going on.

Will they be able to make it off the planet or will the Predators hunt them and eliminate them one by one? And again, how does a doctor fit in with a group of trained fighters?

Written and produced by Robert Rodriguez, Predators is a straight up action flick with some mystery set in the Predator universe. It also makes mention to events in the original Predator film as well, tying this one to it. I must admit, while I wasn't a fan of the recent Alien Vs. Predator films, Predators was actually a pretty fun ride!

If you don't mind action flicks, be sure to check this one out!

Tron: Legacy

Rated PG

Starring Jeff Bridges, Garrett Hedlund, Olivia Wilde, Bruce Boxleitner

Picking up just a few years after the original Tron left off, in the mid-late 1980s Kevin Flynn runs his arcade by day and does secret computer programming in the cyber world by night, all while being in charge of the huge software empire ENCOM he built and taking care of his young son Sam after the death of his wife. Flynn often tells Sam stories of his times in the virtual world with his pals Tron and Clu (a digital copy of himself to run things when he's not around).

One day though, Flynn doesn't come home and it seems he's gone missing for good. ENCOM is left to young Sam, in which Flynn's good friend Alan is in charge until Sam is old enough and Alan also steps in as a surrogate father for young Sam. When Sam is of age though, he has no interest in his father's company, only visiting about once a year to stir things up and so the company is mainly run by the board of directors who don't have the same vision as Flynn did, only caring about making a profit.

Alan approaches Sam one night saying he got a page from the disconnected number at Flynn's old arcade and encourages Sam to go check it out. Refusing at first, Sam gives into curiosity at the idea that his father might still be alive and goes down to the arcade. There, he gets accidentally gets transported into the virtual world that his father used to tell him so much about when he was a kid.

Mistaken for a "program" at first, Sam has to compete in gladiator-esque games in order to survive. Upon learning he is a "user" named Sam Flynn, he is quickly summoned into a meeting with the man in charge, who at first glance, appears to be his father, having never aged. We soon learn though that it is Clu and not Flynn who runs things around here, however Flynn is still very much alive but in hiding and that it was Clu who paged Alan in an attempt that someone from outside would come in order to lure Flynn out one last time.

Sam eventually escapes from Clu, with the help of a young woman named Quorra who has been Flynn's companion and apprentice all these years. She takes him to his father, however they have a bigger problem on their hands - when Sam arrived in the virtual world, the portal to the outside world was opened. While the portal is only open for a short period of time, they believe that Clu is trying to crossover in order to perfect a new world as he sees fit. Together, the 3 must race Clu to the portal before it closes so that they can escape and close it before it's too late!

While nearly 30 years after the original was released, Tron: Legacy is a smart and fun sequel. I must say, I enjoyed this one much better than I had the original as it much easier to follow without nearly as much computer programming speak as the original had. The visuals are stunning and make the virtual world fun and thrilling. The plot, unlike the original, is simple enough for even kids to grasp and follow what is going on. The music - done solely by electronic/techno gurus Daft Punk - is brilliant and upbeat, really conveying the perfect emotions. Michael Sheen is also amusing in a small role stylized after the likes of Ziggy Stardust. And if you've never seen the original Tron or it's been years since, no worries - they nicely bring the viewer up to speed with a montage of newsreels and such describing the events at the end of the original and Flynn's bedtime stories to young Sam about the virtual world give you insight as to what happened as well.

This is a great, visual film that the whole family can watch together and enjoy!

Black Swan

Rated R for graphic sexuality, some tense violence

Starring Natalie Portman, Vincent Cassel, Mila Kunis, Barbara Hershey, Winona Ryder

Nina is an innocent yet very talented and dedicated ballet dancer, part of a New York City ballet troupe. It is announced that lead featured dancer Beth, who is quite older than the rest, will be retiring soon and that a new lead dancer will be picked to replace her as the Swan Queen in ballet conductor Thomas Leroy's new adaption of Swan Lake.

While saddened to see Beth go, Nina is eager at the shot of a lead featured role and auditions for the part. Thomas tells her that if he were only casting for The White Swan, the part would easily be Nina's, but he's looking for a dancer who can perform and embody both The White Swan and her evil, seductive twin The Black Swan, which he doesn't feel the innocent Nina can pull off. After forcing himself on her, Nina bites Thomas' tongue and he feels he's seen a sliver of The Black Swan in her and decides to cast her in the part, but in rehearsals he constantly berates her not being seductive enough or losing herself in the part enough. To add to matters, an equally talented feisty new dancer named Lily has just transferred to the troupe from San Fransisco and Nina fears Lily is out to get her role as Lily seems to be the opposite of innocent Nina - the Black Swan to her White Swan.

As Nina struggles to tap into the Black Swan of the role and the days of opening night approach, Nina begins to hallicunate and lose her sanity. Her overprotective and overbearing mother (whom we learn is a former ballerina who gave up her career when she got pregnant at 28 with Nina and is now living vicariously through her) worries about her so much that it only pushes Nina further into her madness. Soon the Black Swan persona begins to take over Nina - will she be able to fight it or will the dual role of nice vs. naughty get the best of her in the end?

Black Swan is an interesting look into the darkside of ballet and how striving too hard for perfection in a role can drive one mad. As one person put it, it's reminescint of what Heath Ledger might have gone through while getting into and emboding the role of The Joker for The Dark Knight - a role that he strived to perfect so much that it drove him over the edge and killed him in the end. Natalie Portman gives a stunning and believable performance though, as she worked hard physically to get into the role - for her role here, she deserves any award she's nominated for this award season.

While it's a bit of a psychological thriller and drama (we see Nina downward spiral and lose control of her sanity), it's definitely rated R for a reason as there's some pretty graphic sexual scenes in this film that are not appropriate for kids to see. I wouldn't say it's my favorite film of 2010, but it's definitely worth seeing!

DVD Review: The Blindside

Rated PG13 for some language, mild violence

Starring Sandra Bullock, Quinton Aaron, Tim McGraw, Jae Head, Kathy Bates

Teenage Mike Oher has lived a rough life, having grown up in the projects with a drug abusing mother and has recently been crashing on his friend's couch. His friend's father is a janitor at a Memphis Christian school and pleads with admissions to allow his son and "Big Mike" to attend due to their ability in sports. Impressed by "Big Mike's" size, the school let's him under the condition he gets his grades up so he can play football the next year. Mike has trouble in school though and we soon learn that he often spends his nights at the school's gym where it's warm and his only spare clothes are t-shirt he carries with him in a bag.

One night, Leigh Anne Tuohy (whose children attend school with Big Mike) and her family spy him walking in the rain and offer him a ride and a place to stay. Realizing he has nowhere to go, they decide to extend his stay and get him the help he needs to succeed in school (also helping is the school's science teacher who learns that Mike, who may appear dumb, has been paying attention all semester and while he can't pass written tests, he excells when given the chance to take them orally). Soon Mike becomes part of the Tuohy family, with the Tuohy's requesting for guardianship of him from the state and Mike qualifies for football - with the help of the Tuohy's he is able to become a star linebacker, gaining the attention of major state colleges.

While the movie comes off at first as a football film, it really is more of an autobiographical film about the life NFL linebacker Michael Oher who was a first round draft pick for the Baltimore Ravens in 2009. While Michael's story of rising up against the odds and succeeding is inspirational in itself, the Tuohy's also serve as a fine example of what we as people should strive to be, providing help and love to those in need regardless of their background.

Tangled

Rated PG for some animated violence

Starring Mandy Moore, Zachary Levi, Donna Murphy

An old witch named Gothel finds a flower with magical power and by being near it and singing to it she is able to make herself young. When the local queen, who's pregnant, falls deathly ill the King's men search for a cure, coming across the magic flower. After making a broth from the flower, the queen gets healthy and gives birth to a baby girl with shining blonde. Gothel quickly realizes that the baby girl's hair has the same magical powers as the flower and decides to kidnap her and raise her as her own daughter in a hidden tower in order to stay looking young forever.

In rememberance of their lost daughter, every year on her birthday the king and queen light thousands of magical lanterns. The girl, Rapunzel, has seen these glowing lights from her tower and dreams of the day Gothel will let her out so she can see them in person - in fact, it's the only thing she wants for her upcoming 18th birthday. But of course Gothel says no, out of fear of losing her key to looking young.

That all changes though when the handsome young Flynn hides out in Rapunzel's tower after stealing a tiara from the kingdom and abandoning his co-conspirators. Rapunzel makes a deal with him - escort her to see the magical lights and she'll tell him where she hid his loot. Of course, in true fairytale fashion, the two begin to fall for each other as Flynn begins to drop his charming bad-boy persona. Meanwhile Gothel, furious at Rapunzel's rebellion of leaving the tower plots to get her to return.

Disney has done it again, creating a vibrant, colorful film with a cute spin on a classic fairytale much in the way they did over 20 years ago with The Little Mermaid. Another great animated film of 2010 for the whole family!

Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader

Rated PG for fantasy violence

Starring Georgie Henley, Skandar Keynes, Will Poulter, Ben Barnes, Liam Neeson, Simon Pegg

Set a year after the previous film, Lucy and Edmund are stuck in Cambridge staying with their annoying stuck-up and self-centered cousin Eustace. Older siblings Susan and Peter are off traveling in America with the family but make mention of the family being reunited once World War II is over.

Bored one day, Lucy notices a painting of a ship that looks very Narnian. Soon her and Edmund get locked in the room with Eustance, water begins pooring out of the painting, seeming to drown them, however when they break for air they are rescued in the middle of the see by former Prince and now King Caspian and brought about his magestic ship The Dawn Treader. Caspian explains it has been 3 years in Narnia-time since they had last met and that he is on a journey find 7 missing Lords that were banished during his evil uncle's reign. Lucy and Edmund are up for the adventure and thrilled to tag along while Eustace does nothing but complain and act as an annoying nusciance.

After visiting the Lone Islands, where the 7 Lords were last believed to have been, Caspian, Lucy, Edmund and Eustace are all captured by the slave traders who run the island and learn that some of the slaves are sent by boatloads into the ocean and sacrificed by a mysterious green mist. Our heros are rescused by the remaining crew and set off to find the 7 magic swords of the Lords as it's believed that by combining them that the evil green mist can be stopped and that the 7 Lords had set out to do so but were unable to complete the task.

On their journey each of our main characters are tested - Lucy struggles with insecurity and desperately wants to be just like her beautiful sister Susan; Caspian struggles with living up to being the king his father was; Edmund struggles with having to answer to leadership and follow orders from Caspian; Eustace struggles to just be a nice person in general. Each one will have to overcome their struggles within and make sacrifics in order to defeat to the evil mysterious green mist.

While the previous Narnia film - Prince Caspian - was a bit action-packed and violent while straying quite a bit from the books and received many mixed reviews, Dawn Treader brings back the fun of the first film. It's got fantasy and magical talking creatures (Simon Pegg does an excellent job as Reepicheep - Caspian's talking, fighting mouse sidekick - this time around).

Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader is good fantasy fun on the high seas for the whole family to enjoy!

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, part 1

Rated PG13 for fantasy violence, some scary images, brief sensuality

Starring Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, Emma Watson, Ralph Fiennes, Alan Rickman, Helena Bonham Carter

Taking place very shortly after the events of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, The Order of the Phoenix prepares to move Harry from his aunt and uncle's home to the magical realm on the eve of his 17th birthday. They must act quickly though as Voldemort and his Death Eater followers are hoping to intercept and bring Harry to Voldemort so that he may finish him off.

Rather than return to Hogwarts for their final year, Harry, Ron and Herimoine decide it is of upmost importance for Harry to finish what Dumbledore had started - finding and destroying the Horcruxes that Voldemort had hidden fragments of his soul into in order to make himself immortal. Similar to Frodo and Sam's journey in Lord of the Rings, this search wears our trio thick and thin, often testing their loyality not only to the task set before them but their loyalty to each other. It doesn't help that the Death Eaters are after Harry and will stop at nothing to capture him for Lord Voldemort.

As I'm sure parents have by now realized, this series is not for young children as the movies (and the books) have gotten darker and darker with each one, this being the darkest of them yet. Also, not in the book, is a brief scene of sensuality that is used when Ron and Harry try to destroy a Horcruxe. I understand the reason behind it, as it was supposed to distract Ron, but regardless, parents who let their kids read the book might be a bit surprised by this particular change in the script.

Compared to previous film adaptions of this beloved series, this one sticks pretty close to the book. The book itself was very dark and the movie captures that very well. At the start of both the film and book, a beloved character is killed off the bat, setting the tone of what's to come. I also recall in certain parts of the book, the way the "new" magical government is being run (under a puppet of Lord Voldemort's), "mudbloods" (those wizards who are "muggle born") are being sentenced and tried and treated like Jews in the holocust - a very scary subject to read about. While it's touched on to a certain degree in the movie, they did a good job of keeping it family-friendly while not going quite so far as the book did - Herimoine gets the worst of it in the movie.

I, for one, can't wait to see the conclusion in July!